Different Clinical Orientations

While both MA programs are grounded in curricula that are intended to provide the basic competencies needed for effective clinical practice, their orientation to clinical training is different.

The focus of the MA in Marriage & Family Therapy is to prepare students for the licensed practice of child, couple, and family therapy. These practitioners typically work with clients from theoretical perspectives that are more interpersonally and systemically oriented. They concentrate more on the relational, social, and cultural experiences of their clients while taking into account the context of their inner world.

The focus of the MA in Counseling is to prepare students for the licensed practice of individual and group mental health counseling. These practitioners typically work with clients from theoretical perspectives that are more intrapersonally and individually oriented. They concentrate more on the inner experience of their clients while taking into account the context of their relational, social, and cultural worlds.

Selecting the Best Option

Deciding what option is best depends on how you weigh a variety of criteria. In terms of job market factors, you are just as likely to secure employment and remain successfully employed with credentials and experience in either one of these fields. Moreover, regardless of what degree program you select, as long as you become licensed as a clinician, you can generally expect insurance companies to reimburse you for your services on an equal basis with other master’s level providers. Instead of weighing market factors like these, we recommend that you strongly consider choosing the option that best fits your own theoretical perspective and/or individual temperament.

Theoretical Perspective is important because it provides the basic framework for understanding and resolving clinical issues. The more individually oriented perspective of CMHC takes you in one direction, while the more relationally oriented perspective of MFT takes you in another. Both are vital and need to be considered when working with clients, but one may involve a domain of experience that may be more fundamentally appealing to you.

Individual Temperament is also important because it defines the level of comfort you have in working in different therapeutic contexts. For example, are you more comfortable in working in a multi-client therapeutic environment, or are you more comfortable in working in a one-on-one therapeutic environment? Your answer to this question, along with your theoretical interests, may provide you with some helpful guidance as to which clinical program is best for you.